Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Skeeters side of the family in Dallas. I was anxious about the flight because the last time we flew Sophia screamed (not cried, but screamed) the entire way and I was still battling flashbacks. Fortunately, she did GREAT and the flight attendants and I got a few giggles at how much she resembles her Daddy.
Nana made a delicious traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings. Over dinner, we had fun chatting with Christy and Sam who had just returned from a three month business trip to Norway.
We made a plate for Sophia, but she did not enjoy the food and she made sure that we were aware of her food preferences with a dramatic array of facial expressions. Dessert was another story - she gobbled up the pumpkin pie!

I enjoyed dressing her up in a cute little outfit, and our little girly-girl had fun strutting her stuff. She even took 2-3 steps by herself!!

The best part of our holiday weekend was getting to spend time with our niece Katherine. She is the sweetest little girl. She loved to be with her Aunt "Maimee," her Uncle "Wow" and her cousin "Fa." Sophia and Katherine weren't quite sure what to think of each other at first, I think because they are not used to sharing the spotlight. But by the end of the weekend, they really seemed to like each other.

They eventually came to the realization that together, they could easily dominate any situation. At dinner, Sophia would start "singing" and Katherine would quickly chime in, creating a deafening noise that put a halt to all adult conversation. The next time these two get together Sophia should be walking, and we can't wait to see what sort of trouble they get into together!!

Sophia also did amazingly well on the flight back home. She made several friends before and during our flight, and we were shocked at how many people waited at the gateway to say goodbye to her, waving "Goodbye, Sophia!" On the way to get our baggage, Will said "Oh my gosh - our daughter is a rock star!"

9 Months

Who knew having a nine month old could be so much fun?? Sophia is a whopping 22 pounds now and is full of energy. She sings, babbles and laughs nonstop with one condition - she needs to be walking! All this little girl wants to do is hold onto our fingers and walk. She can cruise around the furniture and walk behind her toys now, but after several steps, she stops and tries to grab our fingers again. Even when she's sitting on our laps, she'll search around for our fingers, and by the time we realize what is going on, she has already slid onto the ground and taken 2-3 steps. This is not the most ergonomically sound activity for us 30+ year old parents, so occassionally we'll use a towel as a harness.
Sophia has developed a great sense of humor and a contagious laugh that sounds a lot like her Pops. She has started a new dance where she bounces up and down, shakes her head "no" and then puts her ear to her shoulder. It's a litte unconventional, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it on MTV soon! She enjoys going to the playground, but if there aren't any kids to play with, she's happy to just sit and eat wood chips. She loves to play silly games with Mommy....


...and wrestle with Daddy.


She is no longer breast feeding at all anymore, so I celebrated by drinking waaay too much caffeine, having one too many cocktails, and eating really spicy thai food! Woohoo!! Sophia has done great with the transition, although she has developed an unusual habit of sucking on the palm of her hand when she is sleepy. We are working on getting her to eat more grown up foods, but she has been somewhat picky about it and will often shake her head "no" and spit food right out if we're able to get it in her mouth at all.

And of course, she is still ridiculously cute! Will and I have come to terms with the fact that we're going to have a kid that is way better looking than us, and we've already had to deal with some admiring boys.
Will says she will not be going on a date until she's 30.

Baby's Best Friend

Sophia and Trent are becoming great friends and it's so fun to watch. One of Sophia's favorite activities is chasing Trent, and he seems to enjoy playing along too. She'll hold on to our fingers and walk after Trent. As soon as she gets close, Trent will run away, and Sophia will squeal with excitement. Trent will then wait until she gets close before running off again.
I let Sophia "wrestle" with Trent the other night, and he was SOOOO patient with her. The poor guy just laid there while Sophia gave him wet slobbery kisses...

...pulled his ears....

...and then took his chewie away!

However, Sophia has also gotten very good at petting Trent gently, and of course, throwing him all the food she doesn't want, so I think they're both coming out ahead in this relationship!

This video is a classic!!

Liltte Drummer Girl

I swore I'd never buy a set of drums for my kid, but after only 8 months, I've already broken my oath! We went to a large consignment sale a few weeks ago and I bought a Leapfrog Learning Drum for Sophia. It has different settings so that when you hit it, it will make drum sounds, music sounds, say the letters of the alphabet, or count up to ten. The first time I put it front of Sophia, her face lit up and she grinned ear to ear. It has quickly become her favorite toy, and we'll often get bored waiting for her to finish playing with it so she'll play with us!

Bye Bye Baby

Today Sophia started waving "bye bye" to her reflection in the mirror, and it was nothing short of a miracle when she continued to do it after I turned on the camera! (I apologize because the angle is a little strange, but I needed one hand to hold Sophie and the other to wave.)

Happy Halloween

Sophia's first Halloween was so much fun. We started the festivities last week by taking her to a pumpkin patch just up the street from us. There were at least 25 other families there, which surprised us since it was a Wednesday morning. Sophia had fun picking out pumpkins, looking at the gorgeous sunflowers and watching all the other kids run around and play.


Here is Sophia and her Daddy proudly standing at the entrance of the corn stalk maze: I would have posted a picture of us at the exit, but we never found it! We truly got lost and actually had to cheat to get out!!
And here's our little baby bumblebee on the big day:

We went over to our neighbor's house for pizza before the trick-or-treating began, and we quickly realized when you have that many kids that are that excited, it's impossible to get a good picture!
Sophia decided to forego the trick-or-treating this year so she could help hand out candy. She loved seeing all of the kids in costumes, but she can't wait until next year when she will be able to toddle up to a few doorsteps with her buddies.

Jack-o-lantern Smile

For those of you who love baby teeth, I finally got some pictures of Sophia's toothy grin. Enjoy!